How AI Helps Solve Streaming Content Monetization
Much discussion of AI and streaming relates to streamlining and automating workflows, but how content companies can leverage it to personalize their content and target ads more efficiently, among other monetization strategies, is another question the industry is examining closely.
Chris Pfaff, CEO, Chris Pfaff Tech Media, Producers Guild of America (PGA), VR AR Association (VRARA), dives into the AI streaming monetization question with Bethany Atchison, VP, Distribution Partner Management, Vevo, Daniel Trotta, Product Manager, Content Engagement & Monetization, Warner Bros. Discovery, Alan Wolk, Co-Founder/Lead Analyst, TVREV, and Paul Erickson, Founder and Principal, Erickson Strategy & Insights in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2023.
“I'm just curious from all of your perspectives where you see AI working,” Pfaff says. He asks Atchison to give her thoughts on the situation.
“We generally use AI for combing through all of the mountains of data we have across our different channels and platforms,” Atchinson says. “We definitely believe in the importance of the human element in creating our programs on our channels. So we're really not leveraging that to create the content, but we are using it to make sure that everything is being surfaced, and that also enables us to surface new artists that might not be top of mind for everyone watching, but because the data is organized so cleanly, we're able to find rising artists who are new in hip hop and put them on our Vevo hip hop channel and give them a platform and an opportunity to be seen in a CTV environment.”
Pfaff says to Trotta, “I'm sure you've got some homegrown AI that you use in addition to other major vendors. Talk about some of your war stories in trying to implement AI to ‘know thy audience’ better.”
“A lot of what you see on a streaming homepage is personalized to you and your past viewing behavior and what similar viewers to you have viewed in the past,” Trotta says. “The human element there that is still really vital is pointing the algorithm in the correct direction. So that's setting the key input and key output metrics and determining [if you] are going to optimize for the most active viewers you can get on your service in a given day? Are you going to optimize for the most viewing hours you can get on your service in a given day? Are you going to optimize for the frequency with which users come back in a month? These are all [elements] that get sped through the pipeline that ultimately becomes what the user sees. But that's the fundamental question to kick everything off each time.”
Pfaff says, “I think that, certainly, this will get better and better, but you've got to do that for millions of viewers and devices as well.” He next asks Wolk how he and TVREV view AI and how it aids service providers.
“I think AI is going to be a huge game changer,” Wolk says. “We’re already seeing it now…the thing that we always talk about is how nobody wants to run their funny commercial during the funeral scene of a show, and it's been very hard to identify that…and now they're able to do that to understand the emotions and even other things, like if I'm Cadillac and Matthew McConaughey is in a scene, I want to run my ad there too, so it creates a nice synergy. And then even understanding what sorts of shows viewers like and being able to personalize their feeds. It's just such an exciting time, and the ability to do this is just going to be incredible.”
Pfaff asks Erickson, “I'm just curious, in terms of things like ad frequency and ad fatigue…how that needs to be solved and what you're seeing in terms of solutions.”
“Well, certainly I think AI will help in that, but my thoughts on ad overload and poor targeting…they're always going to be a net negative for engaging or retention, which obviously impacts your ROI over time,” Erickson says. “My thought on this [is that] content is that the lifeblood of any video operation, whether that's traditional broadcast, the streaming services, Free Ad-Supported Television (FAST) channels…it can make or break the economics of your service. The right content brings people in, keeps them there, and brings them back. But running out of content leads to them to churning. Spending too much on that content, no matter how good and relevant will put you upside down ROI-wise. So today, I think we're finally seeing serious judicious review of content spending when it comes to acquisitions and commissions to ensure that overall content budgets are being used efficiently and profitably.”
He notes that ad frequency and poor demographic data are particular issues for FAST. “Hopefully, it's going to be improved, and it is improving.” He says that ultimately, it remains very important “To make sure that you are spending your budget judiciously on the right kinds of content, whether that's an original commission or licensing it…I think that will still be fundamental to your service's success.”
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